The present invention relates to a magnetic pickup device for picking up ferrous metal debris, such as nails, screws, sheet metal fragments, staples, rivets, and other ferrous metal objects from the ground or a floor, and particularly to a magnetic pickup device that rolls over the surface.
During assembly of end products in many industries, such as auto manufacturing, light manufacturing, assembly, machining, etc., a variety of ferrous metal debris falls onto the floor of the plant. For example, sheet metal fragments from machining may scatter widely around the cutting operation. In addition, many different types of fasteners used in assembly may be dropped during assembly of such end products as mobile homes, truck bodies, and recreational vehicles. Such ferrous metal debris presents an environmental hazard to workers and to the tires of forklifts and other vehicles used in the plant.
In storage yards, damage to vehicle tires may occur due to penetration by nails, wire, scrap metal, and other ferrous metal debris.
During home construction, nails and screws may be a particularly difficult problem for the contractor, especially during the roofing phase of construction. Further, re-roofing a home presents an even more significant problem of nails falling to the ground and puncturing tires and safety issues.
Earlier magnetic pickup devices may be rolled along the floor or ground to pick up ferrous metal objects. However, many of these devices did not have a hopper to hold the debris after pickup. This required the operator to return to a dump area to remove the debris, and then return to the pickup area for more cleaning.
Another problem with some earlier devices was that no release feature existed. Ferrous metal debris that was picked up could not easily be removed from the pickup device, except by intensive hand labor. Earlier devices that did have a release feature required a great deal of force to separate the debris from the magnet when fully loaded.
There is a need for a magnetic pickup device for ferrous metal objects. The device should optionally have a hopper for temporarily storing ferrous metal debris. There should also be a mechanism for easily scraping the ferrous metal debris off the magnetic pickup device and for reducing the force needed to release debris.